When paving a surface with a longitudinal slab of paving material, such as concrete, much of the lateral space around the pavement is occupied by equipment, such as portions of the paver (e.g., treads and/or wheels of the paver), vehicles for providing a supply of wet concrete, placers/spreaders, and the like. For a highway or street paving project, this occupied lateral space may require more than one lane closure to complete the paving project, which may lead to complete road closure or to undesirable congested traffic conditions in the remaining drivable lanes (if any).
Further, other pavement sites may include obstacles adjacent the surface to be paved which may hinder conventional paving systems. For instance, such obstacles may include fire hydrants, light posts, traffic signals, trees, electrical equipment, and the like which may pose logistical problems during the planning, preparation, and implementation phases of a pavement project.
Some asphalt paving equipment may permit paving a surface, where the bulk of the paving activity may be confined to the surface/lane to be paved, without excessive occupied lateral space. While such equipment may avoid some of the problems associated with requiring occupied lateral space, asphalt as a roadway surface incorporates many structural problems as compared to concrete construction, including, but not limited to, reduced effective lifetime, tendency to form potholes and ruts, and decreased skid resistance for most driving conditions including wet surfaces. Moreover, current asphalt pavers are not suitable for working with concrete, due in part to the use of the floating pan.
Consequently, it would be advantageous if an apparatus existed that is suitable for concrete paving a surface with minimal lateral space.